


The Perfect Christmas

by alifletcher2010



Series: ACOTAR Au Week 2019 [3]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21821875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alifletcher2010/pseuds/alifletcher2010
Summary: ACOTAR Au Week Day 3: Christmas/Holiday AUThe most perfect things in life aren't picture perfect.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel
Series: ACOTAR Au Week 2019 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572424
Kudos: 14
Collections: ACOTAR AU Week, ACOTAR AU Week Day 3





	The Perfect Christmas

Azriel finished wrapping up the last few presents and arranged them under the tree. He stood back to admire his work and sighed. It was a sorry looking sight.

The tree was thrifted, a scrawny little thing Elain had found at their local secondhand store for just a few dollars. Only half the lights had worked but with some tinkering he had gotten the entire strand to light up. The ornaments had been homemade, a collection of gingerbread cookies, paper snowflakes, and some colorful cloth stars Elain had whipped up from some old shirts of his. Popcorn stands filled in the rest and a painted cardboard star had adorned the top. The meager presents were wrapped in cheap brown paper, only adorned with colorful ribbons they had found in the dollar section at the craft store down the street.

Overall, he supposed, it didn’t look all that bad. But it was nowhere near the pictures of the perfectly coordinated Christmas trees with their sparkling ornaments and shimmering lights that were being shared by all their friends these days. It was supposed to be their first Christmas together and he had wanted to make it the Christmas of her dreams. Elain deserved a perfect Christmas. Azriel supposed this would have to do.

Stiffly, he moved across the room to the kitchen. The accident at work had been hard on both of them. Workers comp had barely been enough to pay the bills, let alone splurge on presents and it chafed at Azriel to watch Elain pick up extra shifts at the bakery when she was already working so hard on her thesis and other schoolwork. She had been so busy these days he barely saw her. She hadn’t even had time to finish decorating, her favorite thing to do during the holidays. It made him feel useless, barely able to move from the couch, having to watch her day after day, work for them both. But, most of the gifts under the tree were courtesy of those extra shifts, most of them things they needed, and it was something to be grateful for. Somehow, Azriel had managed to scrounge up just enough to buy Elain a small plant that would be sure to make her eyes light up.

As quickly as he could with his arm in a cast, Azriel whipped up some hot chocolate and finished frosting the small batch of cookies he had clumsily made. The trees were misshapen and the frosting ran of the sides as they had hardly enough powdered sugar. Elain would be home soon and he wanted to surprise her with this small little bit of Christmas cheer. It was nowhere near what she deserved, but it was all he could manage. He was looking forward to her finally having a day off and getting to hold her close.

The sound of a key in the lock startled Azriel. He hadn’t realized how long it had taken him to finish up the cookies. Quickly, he plated them and then sat them and the hot chocolate down on the coffee table in their little living room. Right as the door was opening, he switched off the lights, so just the glow of the tree lights filled the room, giving it a cozy, homey feel. With the lights off, it almost felt magical, almost perfect.

Elain stepped into the apartment and gasped. Her eyes went wide as she took in the room, the decorations, the lights, and Azriel standing there by the tree. Her eyes shimmered with tears as she whispered, “Az?” The soft sound of her voice was enough to make Azriel’s heart race. He could never get enough of this amazing woman.

Slowly, wonder written across her face, she dropped her bags to the floor and kicked off her snowy boots before making her way across the room. “You did all this? The tree and presents and…” she took a deep breath, a dazzling smile, as bright as any star, crossed her face, “…did you bake too?”

Azriel gave her a small smile. “Merry Christmas, my love. We hadn’t had a chance to decorate with…everything. And you’ve been working so hard for the both of us. I wanted to give you the perfect Christmas. This isn’t that, but it’s what I could manage.”

Elain wrapped her arms around her husband, tears streaking down her cheeks. “No, Az, this is perfect. It’s you and me and our first Christmas. That’s all I need. You are my perfect Christmas.”

She reached up on her tippy toes and pressed a gentle kiss to Azriel’s lips. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips when she pulled away, not ready to stop tasting the sweetness of her lips.

“I love you too,” she whispered, “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“How could I not?” Azriel gently tucked her still snow wet hair behind her ears. “Making you happy is my perfect Christmas.”

Elain grinned widely at him and opened her mouth to speak again, only to have the rumbling of her stomach interrupt. They both laughed at that sound. “I think,” she said “that it might be time for those cookies now.”

“I agree,” said Azriel. He lead her to the couch and tucked a blanket around her before handing her a steaming mug of cocoa and a cookie. He sat down next to her, and wrapped his free, uninjured arm around her. Happiness filled him, it wasn’t picture perfect, they still had bills to pay and work to do, but their first Christmas really was perfect.


End file.
